A gun raffle by any other name is still a chance for a last-place minor league baseball team to bring in some fans.
Or at least bring in some attention through shock value.
The Huntsville (Ala.) Stars of the Double-A Southern League is participating in a unique promotion, according to al.com. The Stars are holding a "Second Amendment Night" on July 3, featuring a raffle for gift certificates good for acquiring guns at a local gun store.
The Stars organization, an affiliate of the Milwaukee Brewers organization, has made clear on social media and in the al.com article that fans who win the vouchers will not be able to pick up the weapons at Joe Davis Stadium. The winning ticket-holders must go to a store called "Larry's Pistol and Pawn" to collect their prizes.
The Stars, who finished off the first half of the Southern League split season in last place, is 2-8 and in last early during the second half of the season.
The team's general manager Buck Rogers, assured al.com on Friday that guns are prohibited at all Huntsville Stars games, adding that it is his belief that several organizations routinely raffle off guns.
"And since everybody's buying guns hand over fist and Larry's Pistol and Pawn wants to get involved in some sponsorships and they had a line out there a mile long (to buy guns)," Rogers said, "we're having a Second Amendment night to talk about things anyway. It's an educational night. No guns coming to the game. Nobody is giving away guns."
The "educational" part of the promotion is connected with U.S. citizens' rights, as stated in the constitution, Rogers said.
"Our approach on our Fourth of July show, we're going to do a night talking about the Constitution," he said. "We're handing out copies of the Declaration of Independence to all the fans coming into the game and making it a patriotic salute.
"One of the hot button issues right now is the Second Amendment that everybody's running from. We're not touching base on First Amendment, Fourth Amendment, abortion or any of that type of stuff. A lot of stuff makes people uncomfortable.
"Maybe it's time Americans basically said, 'Hey, what's going on? What's wrong with this? Day in and day out, people's rights are being taken away. The government is spying. We've got phone companies selling our information - the whole nine yards."
The organization is assuming that the holding a raffle for vouchers for guns doesn't make people uncomfortable.
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